The light emission characteristics of a white light source are often expressed by a “color temperature” and is measured in K (Kelvin). If you’ve been exposed to studio or indoor photography, you’ll know that a 5000K lamp will bring you closer to natural daylight.
The office and classroom environment often have similarities, as they are places where a lot of reading and physical evaluation is required. Light sources closer to daylight have been shown to give higher contrast in printed material and thus make it easier to read for longer with less fatigue.
Many organizations arbitrarily chose 4100K because a bright white fluorescent tube is about that color temperature, this has to do with the phosphors that convert the ultraviolet light from the gas discharge tube into visible light and it turns out that the phosphors that produce 4100K are those of lower production cost. for fluorescent tube manufacturers, it also helps GE and others create a specification that produces a kind of dirty white light and is outside the spectrum of actual daylight.
Some lighting engineers go so far as to say that daylight is acceptable lighting, but if a light can produce daylight it is not acceptable as it is over 4100K; well, a child might tell you that’s just wrong.
However, there is a reason to standardize a color temperature and that is a uniform appearance. If there is more than one fixture in an area and different color temperatures were used, it will look inconsistent in both the lights and the target area lit.
Therefore, it is more appropriate to apply the rule that if you are changing technology, you should do it for the entire area. Also, mixing 4100K LEDs and 4100K fluorescents will not work well, as LEDs will stay at that color temperature for a long time, while fluorescents will significantly change their color temperature with use.
LED phosphors generally work best at 5000K and today’s 5000-5200K LED packages have very well balanced color spectra that make them appear almost like daylight, a good light for almost any task.
My best suggestions are to use the following color temperatures in their respective applications:
Office, Warehouse, Classroom: 5000..5200K
Meeting room: 5000..5200K
Conference room: 5000..5200K
Food, Fish and Packaged Sections: 2700… 3500K
Red meat food sections: 2700K
Public Restrooms: 5000.5200K
Personal baths and showers: 3500K
Retail clothing: 3500K
Retail tires: 5000..5200K
Retail shoes: 5000..5200K
Cold storage: 5000,5200K
Manufacturing: 5000K..5200K
Color temperature is preferred and nothing that needs to be legislated. There are some human facts as to how the eye perceives a lighted object, we humans have an automatic white balance and if we expose ourselves long enough to a particular color temperature light, a reddish, bluish or greenish white paper will appear white. everybody. So instead of fixating on one color temperature being better than another, make sure you don’t mix them in the same area.
Of course, if you have a larger organization, more rigid guidance may be required. If you are renovating or building new office or classroom environments, you may want to consider making your new LED fixture requirement 5000K +/- 5%, but specify near deviation tolerances of +/- 2% within a area.